Take Back Vermont was an issue-oriented political campaign in the U.S. state of Vermont in the year 2000. Its formation was triggered by the state legislature's passage of a law establishing civil unions for same-sex couples in 2000. [1] Its aim was wider than repealing the civil unions law. [2] It was also a counter-reaction to the state's changing demographics, particularly the arrival of large numbers of affluent, liberal, Democratic residents from out-of-state, sometimes called flatlanders. [3] Ruth Dwyer, the Republican nominee for governor that year who, despite being from out of state herself, [4] was closely identified with the movement, spoke of "a clash of outlooks" with the other side consisting of "new people who make the rules for others and don't listen". [5]
Signs bearing the words "Take Back Vermont" were printed by the thousands and were sold for $5 apiece. [6] They became a regular fixture on roadside barns, garages and front porches, most prominently in Orange and Washington counties. [3] In 2010, it was reported that signs could still be seen along Route 30 and Route 25. [7]
The intent of the movement was to obtain public support (money and votes) to elect officeholders who would repeal these liberal statutes. Ultimately, the movement was unsuccessful. In retrospect, the movement was part of the ongoing culture war.
In December 1999, the Vermont Supreme Court ruled in Baker v. Vermont that existing prohibitions on same-sex marriage were a violation of rights granted by the Vermont Constitution. As a result, the Vermont legislature was ordered to either allow same-sex marriages, or implement an alternative legal mechanism according similar rights. The legislature ultimately voted to enact civil unions but only after months of heated and acrimonious debate. The controversy touched every corner of the state as residents expressed their views through public meetings, lobbying campaigns and placards. [8] Like the civil unions debate, the presence of Take Back Vermont signs was deeply polarizing. [9]
The movement was inherently political and it defined the 2000 election in the state, particularly the gubernatorial race. Howard Dean, the Democratic governor who had signed the civil unions bill, faced a challenge from Ruth Dwyer, a Republican running on a platform closely tied to the Take Back Vermont movement. Dean, actively campaigning to take Vermont forward instead, [10] won re-election but Republicans managed to win a majority in the state's House of Representatives. Indeed, the House voted the following year to outlaw same-sex civil unions, although the Democratic-controlled Senate killed that measure. [11]
In the longer term, the movement was largely unsuccessful. The legislature revisited the issue of rights for gay couples in 2009, when it debated and ultimately passed a same-sex marriage bill. Take Back Vermont signs made an appearance then as well, although to a far lesser extent. [12] The 2009 debate on marriage was notable for being far less divisive than the 2000 debate on civil unions.
Baker v. Vermont, 744 A.2d 864, was a lawsuit decided by Vermont Supreme Court on December 20, 1999. It was one of the first judicial affirmations of the right of same-sex couples to treatment equivalent to that afforded different-sex couples. The decision held that the state's prohibition on same-sex marriage denied rights granted by the Vermont Constitution. The court ordered the Vermont legislature to either allow same-sex marriages or implement an alternative legal mechanism according similar rights to same-sex couples.
A civil union is a legally recognized arrangement similar to marriage, created primarily as a means to provide recognition in law for same-sex couples. Civil unions grant some or all of the rights of marriage.
This is a list of notable events in the history of LGBT rights that took place in the year 2005.
Robert Theodore Stafford was an American politician from Vermont. In his lengthy political career, he served as the 71st governor of Vermont, a United States representative, and a U.S. Senator. A Republican, Stafford was generally considered a liberal, or "Rockefeller Republican".
Same-sex marriage has been legal in Vermont since September 1, 2009. The Senate passed same-sex marriage legislation on March 23, which the House of Representatives amended and approved by a 94–52 vote on April 3, 2009. Governor Jim Douglas vetoed the bill as promised on April 6. Both the House and the Senate successfully overrode Douglas' veto the following day. The law went into effect on September 1, making Vermont the fourth U.S. state to legalize same-sex marriage after Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Iowa, and the first to introduce same-sex marriage by enacting a statute without being required to do so by a court decision.
Same-sex marriage has been legally recognized in New Jersey since October 21, 2013, the effective date of a trial court ruling invalidating the state's restriction of marriage to persons of different sexes. In September 2013, Mary C. Jacobson, Assignment Judge of the Mercer Vicinage of the Superior Court, ruled that as a result of the U.S. Supreme Court's June 2013 decision in United States v. Windsor, the Constitution of New Jersey requires the state to recognize same-sex marriages. The Windsor decision held that the federal government was required to provide the same benefits to same-sex couples who were married under state law as to other married couples. Therefore, the state court reasoned in Garden State Equality v. Dow that, because same-sex couples in New Jersey were limited to civil unions, which are not recognized as marriages under federal law, the state must permit civil marriage for same-sex couples. This ruling, in turn, relied on the 2006 decision of the New Jersey Supreme Court in Lewis v. Harris that the state was constitutionally required to afford the rights and benefits of marriage to same-sex couples. The Supreme Court had ordered the New Jersey Legislature to correct the constitutional violation, by permitting either same-sex marriage or civil unions with all the rights and benefits of marriage, within 180 days. In response, it passed a bill to legalize civil unions on December 21, 2006, which became effective on February 19, 2007.
William J. Lippert, Jr., commonly known as Bill Lippert, is a former legislator and gay rights activist from the U.S. state of Vermont. He served 28 years in the Vermont House of Representatives as state representative of the Town of Hinesburg, from 1994-2022. He served as chair of the House Judiciary Committee for ten years, and then served as chair of the House Health Care Committee.
United States gubernatorial elections were held on November 7, 2000, in 11 states and two territories. The elections coincided with the presidential election. Democrats gained one seat by defeating an incumbent in West Virginia. As of 2024, this remains the last gubernatorial cycle in which a Democrat won in Indiana.
The politics of Vermont encompass the acts of the elected legislative bodies of the US state, the actions of its governors, as overseen by the Vermont courts, and the acts of the political parties that vie for elective power within the state. The state's politics include local Democratic and Republican political parties, as well as several smaller parties.
Same-sex marriage has been legally recognized in Rhode Island since August 1, 2013. The state had authorized a limited form of domestic partnerships from 2002 to 2011 and the formation of civil unions from 2011 until the state began recognizing same-sex marriages in 2013. Same-sex marriage legislation passed the House of Representatives on January 24, 2013. The Senate passed an amended version on April 24, 2013 by a 26–12 vote, which the House approved on May 2 by 56 votes to 15. The bill was signed into law by Governor Lincoln Chafee the same day, and took effect on August 1, with the first same-sex marriages taking place that day. Rhode Island was the last U.S. state in New England to legalize same-sex marriage.
Same-sex marriage has been legal in New Hampshire since January 1, 2010, based on legislation signed into law by Governor John Lynch on June 3, 2009. The law provided that civil unions, which the state had established on January 1, 2008, would be converted to marriages on January 1, 2011, unless dissolved, annulled, or converted to marriage before that date.
The 2000 Vermont gubernatorial election took place on November 7, 2000. Incumbent Democratic Governor Howard Dean won re-election. The campaign was dominated by the fallout from the passage of a civil union bill and the subsequent backlash encapsulated by the slogan Take Back Vermont. Ruth Dwyer, the Republican nominee in 1998, ran again in 2000 and was closely tied to the Take Back Vermont movement. Howard Dean, the Democratic governor, favored civil unions and was a primary target of Take Back Vermont.
Mary L. Bonauto is an American lawyer and civil rights advocate who has worked to eradicate discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, and has been referred to by US Representative Barney Frank as "our Thurgood Marshall." She began working with the Massachusetts-based Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders, now named GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) organization in 1990. A resident of Portland, Maine, Bonauto was one of the leaders who both worked with the Maine legislature to pass a same-sex marriage law and to defend it at the ballot in a narrow loss during the 2009 election campaign. These efforts were successful when, in the 2012 election, Maine voters approved the measure, making it the first state to allow same-sex marriage licenses via ballot vote. Bonauto is best known for being lead counsel in the case Goodridge v. Department of Public Health which made Massachusetts the first state in which same-sex couples could marry in 2004. She is also responsible for leading the first strategic challenges to section three of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).
Vermont is seen as one of the most liberal states in the U.S. in regard to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) rights, with most progress in jurisprudence having occurred in the late 20th and the early 21st centuries. Vermont was one of 37 U.S. states, along with the District of Columbia, that issued marriage licenses to same-sex couples prior to the landmark Supreme Court ruling of Obergefell v. Hodges, establishing equal marriage rights for same-sex couples nationwide.
A civil rights referendum or human rights referendum is any act of direct democracy which allows for a vote on the granting or amendment of current civil rights, liberties or associations as recognized by a government. Such referendums have frequently been proposed as a means by which the majority of the voting public in a polity, rather than the judicial or legislative chambers of government, could determine what the state should recognize or carry out, while such referendums have been strongly criticized by civil rights organizations and professional bodies as means by which the majority of the public could vote on the rights of a vulnerable minority according to contemporary prejudices.
This article contains a timeline of significant events regarding same-sex marriage in the United States. On June 26, 2015, the landmark US Supreme Court decision in Obergefell v. Hodges effectively ended restrictions on same-sex marriage in the United States.
Ruth Dwyer is an American political figure who was the unsuccessful Republican nominee for Governor in 1998 and 2000.
Jeffrey Lee Amestoy is an American retired jurist from Vermont. He served as Vermont Attorney General from 1985 to 1997 and as chief justice of the Vermont Supreme Court from 1997 to 2004.
The Marriage Equality Act is a 2009 Vermont state law which legalized the officiating of marriages between same-sex couples in the state. The law went into effect on September 1, 2009. Vermont became the fourth state to legalize same-sex marriage, the first to do so by legislation rather than a court ruling.
The State of Marriage is a 2015 documentary film about the origins of the marriage equality movement, focusing on the decades of grassroots advocacy by lawyers Mary Bonauto, Susan Murray, and Beth Robinson and the 1999 Vermont Supreme Court case Baker v. Vermont. The film had its world premiere at the 2015 Provincetown International Film Festival on 18 June 2015. It is written and directed by Jeff Kaufman, and produced by Kaufman and Marcia Ross. Funding for the film's post-production and editing work was partially raised through a successful Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign.